Deep-sea fisheries as resilient bioeconomic systems for food and nutrition security and sustainable development
Date
2023Author
Gatto, Andrea
Sadik-Zada, Elkhan Richard
Ozbek, Sürmeya
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
population, contributing to a substantial shift toward fishing in the mesopelagic zone. These areas contain a
potentially huge amount of fish biomass. Considering that the global population will demand an increase of 60%
in food production by 2050, it appears that exploiting the mesopelagic resources is simply a question of time. The
present paper reviews the major risks and opportunities related to the exploitation of mesopelagic fisheries. Due
to the significance of the uncertainties related to the stock of fish resources, environmental and biodiversity
effects of the deep-sea fisheries, this inquiry advocates for the enhancement of sustainable small-sized deep-sea
fishery practices on the one hand side and a global moratorium on large-scale mesopelagic fishing on the other
hand. Deep seas could provide substantial resources for combating global food insecurity and facilitate a substantial
improvement of the nutritional status in the regions plagued by a high incidence of infant mortality and
disproportional poverty headcount ratios. For the sake of global and regional food and nutrition security, the
exploitation of the biological resources of the mesopelagic zone is a legitimate target, whereby environmental
sustainability is the major precondition for the rollout of these kinds of fishing activities.